The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for production of compression-solidified snow, wherein snow is compressed and solidified into ice lumps for convenience of conveyance, storage and utilization of snow.
The thermal energy of snow has been hardly utilized in snowy districts. As a matter of fact, snow is still treated as a useless or otherwise obstructive thing which is likely to cause a traffic obstacle and thus obstructive to everyday life.
In other words, not only a great deal of time but also an enormous amount of money is required to remove and discharge snow and, because of its low density, the snow removal and discharge efficiency is extremely low, whereby it has become difficult to secure snow dumping grounds in urban areas.
Japanese Patent Applications (OPI) Nos. 108383/79 and 203376/83, for instance, disclose methods of compressing and solidifying snow to facilitate snow removal and discharge convenience. In the case of the former, snow is compressed and solidified so that it may be sent under pressure through transport pipes by means of air, whereas in the case of the latter, a compressor is employed to compress and solidify snow so as to store the product in a tank.
As aforesaid, there have been proposed various kinds of the apparatus for compressing and solidifying snow, using a piston-type cylinder as a pressure cylinder for pressing snow. However, in the conventional apparatus using such a piston-typed pressure cylinder, it is necessary to increase the capacity of an oil pressure pump and the capacity of a motor in order to increase a rate of pressure application, thereby to improve productivity. This causes the result opposite to the purpose of energy saving attempted by utilizing the thermal energy of compression-solidified snow.
Further, the conditions of compression required for compressing and solidifying snow have been indicated by neither patent application aforesaid and the problem is that no actual conditions of snow solidification for the purposes of transportation and storage have been made clear. Unless snow has been solidified to a satisfactory density, for instance, the lump will be broken during transportation or unfit for effective storage.